Barcelona City Council
Ricard Torras is a seasoned urban planning professional currently serving as the Jefe de Departamento de Planeamiento General at Ajuntament de Barcelona since May 2022. Previously, Torras held various senior roles at Generalitat de Catalunya, including Senior Manager of Urban Planning at the Regional Service of Central Area of Catalonia, where oversight of reports for the Regional Urban Planning Commission and monitoring of urban planning projects were key responsibilities. Also served as Regional Coordinator of Urban Planning for the Territory and Sustainability Department and as an Architect in urban planning projects across Catalonia. As a freelance architect from September 1996 to November 2011, Torras collaborated on numerous urban planning and building projects with several architectural firms in Barcelona. Educational credentials include an Architect degree focused on City/Urban, Community, and Regional Planning from Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, obtained between 1991 and 1999.
Barcelona City Council
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Barcelona is governed by a city council formed by 41 city councillors, elected for a four-year term by universal suffrage. As one of the two biggest cities in Spain, Barcelona is subject to a special law articulated through the Carta Municipal (Municipal Law). A first version of this law was passed in 1960 and amended later, but the current version was approved in March 2006. According to this law, Barcelona's city council is organized in two levels: a political one, with elected city councillors, and one executive, which administrates the programs and executes the decisions taken on the political level. This law also gives the local government a special relationship with the Spanish government and it also gives the mayor wider prerogatives by the means of municipal executive commissions. It expands the powers of the city council in areas like telecommunications, city traffic, road safety and public safety. It also gives a special economic regime to the city's treasury and it gives the council a veto in matters that will be decided by the central government, but that will need a favourable report from the council.